ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · court · capital · drill · pop · tear · bound · spring

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. court — for sport
  3. drill — a practice
  4. tear — from crying
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bound — tied together
  7. spring — the season
  8. drill — army training
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bound — certain
  11. spring — a coil
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pop — to visit
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. capital — money
  19. spring — of water
  20. pop — soda
  21. bound — obliged
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — of law
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com